The Sleepover
by Valtharr
Summary: Ribbon Girl invites Mechanica over to a sleepover. But can a shy girl with humble roots like Mechanica deal with spending a night in a huge mansion with her idol?


Was this really happening?

Veronica – or Mechanica, as most people knew her by now – was walking through the street in this fancy part of town, far away from her father's scrapyard, a sleeping bag under her arm and a backpack with her pajamas, toothbrush and fresh clothes on her back.

Was she really going to a sleepover with Ribbon Girl? _The_ Ribbon Girl? The pop star, the ARMS fighter, her personal idol?

This had to be a dream. It just had to. Yes, Ribbon Girl treated her nicely enough during their training sessions and such, but the invitation last week came totally unexpected for the 15 year inventor-turned-ARMS-combatant.

There was no more time to contemplate as she arrived at a huge mansion with closed gates and a guard house in front of it.

"This...can't be."

She pulled out the little scrap of paper that Ribbon Girl gave her and indeed, the address written on it was the address of the house she was standing in front of right now. Nervously, she approached the guard house.

"H-hello?"

A man in a guard uniform, somewhat around 50 years old by Veronica's estimate, took his eyes off the magazine he was reading and looked at her.

"Good evening, young lady. How can I help you?"

The non-threatening, downright friendly tone helped Veronica ease up a little.

"Um, yeah, I'm here for Ribb-...I mean, Robin."

The guard chuckled a bit and smiled.

"I'm sorry. She loves her fans and all, but you can't expect her to let everyone see her whenever they want, now can you?"

Veronica was a bit surprised at first, but then quickly realized what was going on.

"Oh nonono! I'm not..."

"Oh! You're Mechanica!"

She flinched a bit at the sudden exclamation and then slightly blushed when the guard showed her the cover of the sports magazine he was reading, which depicted a picture of her in her mech suit with a caption calling her a "young sensation."

"I'm sorry, I didn't recognize you without your robot!"

She couldn't help but smile at that for some reason.

"It's okay! So, about Robin..."

"Oh, sure, sure. Let me just..."

He turned to a telephone in his booth and pressed a button on it. After a few seconds, he started talking.

"Yes, umm, I have, well, Mechanica waiting for...yes...yes, of course, right away."

He hung up, pressed another button in his booth and the gates slowly opened. Smiling, he told the young girl:

"Go on in. She's expecting you."

Veronica smiled and nodded.

"Thank you."

"No problem. Oh, but...before you go..."

Looking back at him, she saw that he presented his magazine and a pen to her.

"Could you...give me an autograph? For Walter?"

She blushed again. It wasn't the first time someone asked for her autograph, but she was still getting used to it.

"Oh, uh, sure!"

She took the magazine and the pen and quickly wrote "For Walter, from Mechanica" on it. As she did, she realized she really needed to work on her signature. She handed it back to Walter.

"Here you go!"

"Thank you so much! Have a nice evening!"

"You too!"

She walked through the ornate garden in front of the house, still in awe at its opulence. She would have never thought that someone like her would ever set in foot in such a place. It had everything you'd expect: Perfectly trimmed tree sculptures, beautiful flowerbeds ornately planted at the edges of the garden and the cobblestone path she was following right now ended at a comparatively plain, but to someone like Veronica still impressive looking fountain. As she looked ahead and past the fountain, she saw Robin standing in the doorway, smiling at her.

"Veronica! So glad you could make it!"

The younger girl froze up for a split second as her host spontaneously hugged her. Ribbon Girl was hugging her! And even though it only lasted a few seconds, it felt like an eternity and Veronica couldn't decide whether what was happening felt good or awkward to her. Thankfully, Robin didn't seem to notice.

"I hope Walter didn't give you any trouble."

"Hm? Oh no, he was very friendly. He...he even asked for my...autograph."

"What? Ohoho! Look at the superstar!"

Robin giggled and Veronica couldn't help but do the same. In a joking tone, she replied:

"Yeah, I can't save myself from my legions of adoring fans! But I doubt you of all people could understand that."

"Me? Adoring fans? You're right, there's no way I could know what that's like."

After about two seconds of looking at each other, both girls erupted in laughter.

"Well then, come on in. My parents aren't home and I told the staff they could take the night off, so we have the whole house to ourselves."

Despite being an obvious conclusion to draw, the thought of Robin having a whole house staff like butlers and maids and cooks and such impressed Veronica deeply. And that feeling of awe only increased as she entered a foyer that, as it seemed to her, was bigger than her entire house. She could help but...

"Woah!"

"Hm? Did you say something?"

"I...I'm just impressed, is all."

Robin looked around as she started walking up the stairs.

"Yeah, I guess it's impressive."

Veronica followed her onto the stairs.

"You guess?"

"Well, I mean, I lived here my entire life, so..."

Robin shrugged and continued walking, Veronica decided not to continue that particular conversation. Besides, she was busy marveling at the marble steps, mahogany railings and the giant chandelier in the middle of the foyer. The floor on top of the stairs was covered in a beautiful red carpet and overall, the whole environment made her feel both excited...and also kind of small.

"Well, here we are. This is my room."

The girls stood in front of a door with a golden doorknob (Veronica was unsure whether it was actual gold or not). Robin opened the door and led Veronica into a room that – again – left the younger girl speechless.

"You have a double bed?"

Getting maybe a little too excited, Veronica just jumped onto the big bed standing opposite the door. Robin had to chuckle at the younger girl's excitement.

"Yeah. It's nice to have a lot of room to stretch. Especially since...well, sometimes the ARMS come loose in my sleep, you know."

Veronica snorted.

"Sorry, but...that's such a funny image in my head. I guess not having ARMS has its advantages after all."

Robin chuckled.

"Yeah, I guess so. Anyway, why don't you drop your things over there and we'll go to the kitchen? We have ice cream..."

Veronica looked at her intrigued.

"What flavor?"

Robin smirked and responded with deadly confidence.

"All of them."

"Deal."


End file.
